When Miles Got Mad by Sam Kurtzman-Counter is a short picture book for pre-schoolers teaching them how to deal with their feelings.

In this book Miles get MAD when his little brother accidentally breaks his favourite toy. His anger grows and grows until it manifested itself as a big harry red monster.

A page from the book (c) Ruby’s Studio

The 20 + page picture book by Ruby’s Studio has lovely illustrations like the one you see above. The pictures are a mixture of real life settings with cartoon like characters. Important words are highlighted in red, making it easy for the child to focus on it.

Photo from @Ruby’s Studio

Miles was shocked to see a monster in the mirror instead of his reflection. It took a lot of encouragement by the Monster to use words to express his anger. As Miles expressed his anger in words the Monster grew smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared once his anger left him.

Through the whole episode Miles learned how to control his anger and how to think rationally. He also forgave his brother for his actions and together they repaired the broken toy plane. They continued playing happily with each other and put the incident behind them.

My thoughts

The author make it easy for the child to see how anger manifests within himself as a monster. It shows him how “ugly” they become when he gives in to these negative feelings.

The child is also shown how it is possible to work out his feelings and taught how to “talk it through”. Many a time a child uses angry words or actions to express himself as he does not know alternative methods of expression which may be more productive.

I found this an excellent book as it teaches the concept of working through emotions safely without having the child throwing a tantrum. I enjoyed reading the book with my pre-schooler and will be revisiting the book off and on with her.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own. This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.